Directed by Steve McQueen and based on a true story, the film stars Chiwetel Ejiofor, Lupita Nyong'o, Michael Fassbender, Sarah Paulson, Benedict Cumberbatch, and Brad Pitt. Solomon Northup (Ejiofor) is a free black from Saratoga, New York. In 1841, lured with a job opportunity, he is kidnapped and sold into slavery. Northup spends the next twelve years in bondage, going from kinder slaveowners like Master Ford (Cumberbatch) to the mercilessly cruel Master Epps (Fassbender), who particularly mistreats slave girl Patsey (Nyong'o). With the held of good samaritan Bass (Pitt), Northup regains his freedom in 1953. This is, without a doubt, the best film of 2013. It is now also one of my favorite movies of all-time. It works to perfection in almost everything, from impeccable acting (if it were me, Ejiofor, Nyong'o and Fassbender would get Oscars) to masterful directing (McQueen definitely deserves an Oscar, too), to the writing, to the cinematography, to the score, to.......everything. I cannot praise this film enough, truly. It is one of those films that sticks with you far beyond its end. I was bawling the second the credits started rolling, and I still tear up just thinking about it. It is, pure and simple, a masterpiece -- only once in a blue moon does a film completely overwhelm you like this one does. For that, 12 Years a Slave gets my first-ever A+.
Should you see it: Absolutely
Grade: A+
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